Fountain Valley’s Late Touchdown Breaks Edison

When Fountain Valley scored in the final minute of the first half, it was frustrating for Edison. But when the Barons scored in the final minute of the game, it was devastating for the Chargers.

Fountain Valley withstood a failed field-goal attempt in the closing seconds to beat rival Edison, 19-17, in a Sunset League game in front of about 6,500 at Orange Coast College.

Josh Nimmo scored the winning touchdown on an ordinary two-yard dive with 59 seconds left to play, but it was the way it was set up that was amazing.

Fountain Valley (6-2, 2-1 in league) faced fourth and 15 at the Edison 32. Quarterback Jason Morris was forced from the pocket and threw across his body toward wide receiver Jason Perez, who was racing toward Morris at the two.

“It was a busted play,” Morris said. “I was scrambling and just trying to get the ball [there] so he would have a chance to catch it. I knew we could do it. Fourth and however long, it didn’t matter because we had been getting great protection.”

Nimmo scored two plays later and Fountain Valley went for two and failed.

Edison quarterback Jeff Grady completed three consecutive passes to Jeff Hall for a total of 36 yards and Darin Pope ran for nine more to give the Chargers a first down at the Fountain Valley 29 with five seconds left.

David Yonts tried a 47-yard field-goal kick that hooked left, causing a stampede of Fountain Valley players and fans toward the bell the teams play for each year.

“We can go 1-9 and if we beat these guys, then it’s a successful season,” Morris said.

Fountain Valley Coach George Berg wasn’t willing to go that far, but was in tears as he hugged his son, who is a senior linebacker.

“We had to overcame a lot of obstacles this week,” Berg said. “It was hectic. We didn’t do a good job of managing the last 50 seconds. It’s not good enough to play like you have against anybody else. You have to play better to beat [Edison].”

The main thing Fountain Valley had to overcome was the absence of running back John Sanders (791 yards, 19 touchdowns), who was out because of a strained right knee.

Nimmo scored on a one-yard run early in the first quarter but No. 9 Edison rallied with a 22-yard field goal by Yonts and a seven-yard run by Pope. The touchdown came with 6:36 left in the half and put the Chargers ahead, 10-6.

But No. 10 Fountain Valley came back on a 41-yard pass from Morris to Matt Aman with 41 seconds left in the half. Aman (seven catches for 120 yards) ran a streak down the left side to give Fountain Valley a 13-10 lead.

Edison took the lead, 17-12, when Pope raced 44 yards for touchdown.